Ban on portraits, drunken regulations and other funny decrees of Russian monarchs

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Looking back at the Russian legislation of the 17th-19th centuries, one can see how different the customs and customs of those times are from those of today. If the memoirs and memoirs of contemporaries of the era have an emotional connotation and do not always reflect reality, then the dry letters of the law describe reality in the most correct way.

"Drinking" decrees of Peter the Great

Peter I took vodka and other alcoholic beverages very seriously. In the decree of 1718 "On the dignity of being a guest at assemblies," they meticulously prescribed how to behave while drunk and what to do with guests at different stages of intoxication. Those who could not sit on the chair had to be put on the sidelines so that they would not interfere with the dancers, sorting out the women from the men, "otherwise, when awakening the embarrassment, you will not turn around." It was forbidden to serve vodka to those who were lying down, even if asked, in order to avoid the risk of choking.

Peter is credited with a decree about drunken sailors going ashore on an overseas voyage. A sailor drunk to a state of unconsciousness could avoid punishment if he lay with his head to the dock. It was believed that the drunkard strove to the ship, but could not get there.

Elizaveta Petrovna forbade keeping a bear in the house

Elizabeth I proved to be a humane and progressive ruler. She abolished the death penalty and especially sophisticated torture. Taking care of the safety of the urban population, the empress forbade fast driving on the streets and introduced fines for public abuse. She stopped the then widespread practice of keeping bears in wealthy homes. It seems very reasonable to have a decree prohibiting persons with measles or smallpox in their homes to appear at the court.

It is impossible not to share the understandable indignation of the Empress, which prompted the issuance of the decree of March 11, 1747 "On the non-writing of the portrait of Her Imperial Majesty to unsophisticated masters." But the decree "On not wearing rich dresses with gold and silver to anyone, except for the military and visiting foreigners …", issued on December 11, 1742, reflects the empress's desire not to allow ladies to surpass her in outfits.

The historical anecdote about the "hair establishment", according to which all court ladies should shave their heads and wear black shaggy wigs, is most likely an anecdote, since there is nothing like this in the list of Elizaveta Petrovna's decrees.

Catherine II: Selected Passages from the Charter of the Deanery

Catherine II, having taken the throne, tried to bring order to the legislative system of the Russian Empire. The main instrument of law and order was the Charter of the Deanery, an analogue of the modern Criminal Code. Some of the positions look very peculiar from our point of view, but then these problems were very relevant.

So, the clergy could not marry young boys with over-age maidens under the threat of a fine. This did not concern the marriages of older men with young girls.

From the age of seven, men were forbidden to enter the public (commercial) women's bathhouse, and women were forbidden to appear in the men's bathhouse. For this, they were punished not only with a fine in the amount of semi-daily maintenance of a prisoner, but also forced to heat this bath.

Article 224 confirmed the prohibition of all types of witchcraft by tracing on the ground or smoking, as well as "frightening with a monster." It was strictly forbidden to: - air or water portents; - interpretation of dreams or seeking visions; - looking for treasures; - whispering on paper, grass or drink.

Any action from the vast arsenal of Russian witches was punished with fines the size of a beggar's daily food - an analogue of the modern living wage.

Catherine did not succeed in completely putting things in order in Russia. “I am being robbed, but this is a good sign - it means that there is something to steal,” she wittily noted in one letter.

The self-styled laws of Paul I

The desire to build any rule into law led to the fact that the reign of Paul I was marked by strange decrees that annoyed his contemporaries. "I'd rather be hated for a right cause than loved for a wrong cause." The newly-minted emperor imposed a curfew, forbidding home lights to be turned on after eight in the evening. Only guards, midwives and priests were allowed to walk along the night streets to the dying. To prevent society from becoming infected with free-thinking, books and notes were not imported from abroad, and in Russia the words "citizen", "doctor" and "fulfill" had to be changed to: "philistine", "doctor" and "fulfill".

Paul I paid special attention to the appearance and form of clothing. The emperor canceled the fashion for round hats and high boots. Instead of tailcoats, it was necessary to wear a German dress with a standing collar and cuffs in the color of the collar. By a decree of 1799, it was forbidden to comb hair forward, only backward, and men to wear sideburns.

There are many anecdotes about the eccentricities of Paul I, but the punishment for non-observance of absurd orders was serious. So, Nathan Eidelman cites facts when the touchy emperor imprisoned Colonel Knutov for "daring conversations" for life, and for an unsuccessful cartoon he sent non-commissioned officer Meshkov to hard labor, after having punished him with a whip and ripped out his nostrils. The situation is not at all the same as under Elizaveta Petrovna, who modestly forbade "inexperienced masters to paint portraits."

The humane laws of the strict emperor

By the time of Nicholas I, the number of laws had multiplied greatly. Now, not one Charter of the Deanery was in force, but a whole complex of charters collected by the works of S. M. Speransky into a single Code of Laws. For all the severity of the reign of Nicholas I, the legislation was humane. Thus, the chapter "On fights and personal grievances" consisted of 15 articles and began with the words: "Everyone is obliged to live in shameful love, peace and harmony … and try to prevent misunderstandings, quarrels, disputes and debates, which can lead to chagrin and resentment. " Fist fights were recognized as "harmful fun", it was forbidden to carry walking sticks with blades inside, and at private festivals "to use artillery" was forbidden.

At the same time, freedom of thought was by no means welcomed - the Charter on censorship contained 230 articles, for which it was nicknamed "cast iron", and among the criminal codes there were crimes against faith, suppressed quite harshly. Thus, Jews were forbidden to hire Christians for work, and to dress up in monastic clothes in home theaters.

Continuing the topic hot historical dozen great failures of Peter I … And the great monarch had failures.